mh_parser/vol_split/18 - Job/Chapter 39.xml

<div2 id="Job.xl" n="xl" next="Job.xli" prev="Job.xxxix" progress="19.70%" title="Chapter XXXIX">
<h2 id="Job.xl-p0.1">J O B</h2>
<h3 id="Job.xl-p0.2">CHAP. XXXIX.</h3>
<p class="intro" id="Job.xl-p1">God proceeds here to show Job what little reason
he had to charge him with unkindness who was so compassionate to
the inferior creatures and took such a tender care of them, or to
boast of himself, and his own good deeds before God, which were
nothing to the divine mercies. He shows him also what great reason
he had to be humble who knew so little of the nature of the
creatures about him and had so little influence upon them, and to
submit to that God on whom they all depend. He discourses
particularly, I. Concerning the wild goats and hinds, <scripRef id="Job.xl-p1.1" osisRef="Bible:Job.39.1-Job.39.4" parsed="|Job|39|1|39|4" passage="Job 39:1-4">ver. 1-4</scripRef>. II. Concerning the wild
ass, <scripRef id="Job.xl-p1.2" osisRef="Bible:Job.39.5-Job.39.8" parsed="|Job|39|5|39|8" passage="Job 39:5-8">ver. 5-8</scripRef>. III.
Concerning the unicorn, <scripRef id="Job.xl-p1.3" osisRef="Bible:Job.39.9-Job.39.12" parsed="|Job|39|9|39|12" passage="Job 39:9-12">ver.
9-12</scripRef>. IV. Concerning the peacock, <scripRef id="Job.xl-p1.4" osisRef="Bible:Job.39.13" parsed="|Job|39|13|0|0" passage="Job 39:13">ver. 13</scripRef>. V. Concerning the ostrich,
<scripRef id="Job.xl-p1.5" osisRef="Bible:Job.39.13-Job.39.18" parsed="|Job|39|13|39|18" passage="Job 39:13-18">ver. 13-18</scripRef>. VI.
Concerning the horse, <scripRef id="Job.xl-p1.6" osisRef="Bible:Job.39.19-Job.39.25" parsed="|Job|39|19|39|25" passage="Job 39:19-25">ver.
19-25</scripRef>. VII. Concerning the hawk and the eagle, <scripRef id="Job.xl-p1.7" osisRef="Bible:Job.39.26-Job.39.30" parsed="|Job|39|26|39|30" passage="Job 39:26-30">ver. 26-30</scripRef>.</p>
<scripCom id="Job.xl-p1.8" osisRef="Bible:Job.39" parsed="|Job|39|0|0|0" passage="Job 39" type="Commentary"/>
<scripCom id="Job.xl-p1.9" osisRef="Bible:Job.39.1-Job.39.12" parsed="|Job|39|1|39|12" passage="Job 39:1-12" type="Commentary"/><div class="Commentary" id="Bible:Job.39.1-Job.39.12">
<h4 id="Job.xl-p1.10">Man's Ignorance of the Animal Creation;
Description of the Wild Goat, Hind, Wild Ass, and
Unicorn. (<span class="smallcaps" id="Job.xl-p1.11">b.
c.</span> 1520.)</h4>
<p class="passage" id="Job.xl-p2">1 Knowest thou the time when the wild goats of
the rock bring forth? <i>or</i> canst thou mark when the hinds do
calve?   2 Canst thou number the months <i>that</i> they
fulfil? or knowest thou the time when they bring forth?   3
They bow themselves, they bring forth their young ones, they cast
out their sorrows.   4 Their young ones are in good liking,
they grow up with corn; they go forth, and return not unto them.
  5 Who hath sent out the wild ass free? or who hath loosed
the bands of the wild ass?   6 Whose house I have made the
wilderness, and the barren land his dwellings.   7 He scorneth
the multitude of the city, neither regardeth he the crying of the
driver.   8 The range of the mountains <i>is</i> his pasture,
and he searcheth after every green thing.   9 Will the unicorn
be willing to serve thee, or abide by thy crib?   10 Canst
thou bind the unicorn with his band in the furrow? or will he
harrow the valleys after thee?   11 Wilt thou trust him,
because his strength <i>is</i> great? or wilt thou leave thy labour
to him?   12 Wilt thou believe him, that he will bring home
thy seed, and gather <i>it into</i> thy barn?</p>
<p class="indent" id="Job.xl-p3">God here shows Job what little acquaintance
he had with the untamed creatures that run wild in the deserts and
live at large, but are the care of the divine Providence. As,</p>
<p class="indent" id="Job.xl-p4">I. The <i>wild goats</i> and the
<i>hinds.</i> That which is taken notice of concerning them is the
bringing forth and bringing up of their young ones. For, as every
individual is fed, so every species of animals is preserved, by the
care of the divine Providence, and, for aught we know, none extinct
to this day. Observe here, 1. Concerning the production of their
young, (1.) Man is wholly ignorant of the time when they bring
forth, <scripRef id="Job.xl-p4.1" osisRef="Bible:Job.39.1-Job.39.2" parsed="|Job|39|1|39|2" passage="Job 39:1,2"><i>v.</i> 1, 2</scripRef>.
Shall we pretend to tell what is in the womb of Providence, or what
a day will bring forth, who know not the time of the pregnancy of a
hind or a wild goat? (2.) Though they bring forth their young with
a great deal of difficulty and sorrow, and have no assistance from
man, yet, by the good providence of God, their young ones are
safely produced, and their sorrows cast out and forgotten,
<scripRef id="Job.xl-p4.2" osisRef="Bible:Job.39.3" parsed="|Job|39|3|0|0" passage="Job 39:3"><i>v.</i> 3</scripRef>. Some think it
is intimated (<scripRef id="Job.xl-p4.3" osisRef="Bible:Ps.29.9" parsed="|Ps|29|9|0|0" passage="Ps 29:9">Ps. xxix. 9</scripRef>)
that God by thunder helps the hinds in calving. Let it be observed,
for the comfort of women in labour, that God helps even the hinds
to bring forth their young; and shall he not much more succour
them, and save them in child-bearing, who are his children in
covenant with him? 2. Concerning the growth of their young,
(<scripRef id="Job.xl-p4.4" osisRef="Bible:Job.39.4" parsed="|Job|39|4|0|0" passage="Job 39:4"><i>v.</i> 4</scripRef>): <i>They are
in good liking;</i> though they are brought forth in sorrow, after
their dams have suckled them awhile they shift for themselves in
the corn-fields, and are no more burdensome to them, which is an
example to children, when they have grown up, not to be always
hanging upon their parents and craving from them, but to put forth
themselves to get their own livelihood and to requite their
parents.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Job.xl-p5">II. The <i>wild ass,</i> a creature we
frequently read of in Scripture, some say untameable. Man is said
to be born as the wild ass's colt, so hard to be governed. Two
things Providence has allotted to the wild ass:—1. An unbounded
liberty (<scripRef id="Job.xl-p5.1" osisRef="Bible:Job.39.5" parsed="|Job|39|5|0|0" passage="Job 39:5"><i>v.</i> 5</scripRef>):
<i>Who</i> but God <i>has sent out the wild ass free?</i> He has
given a disposition to it, and therefore a dispensation for it. The
tame ass is bound to labour; the wild ass has no bonds on him.
Note, Freedom from service, and liberty to range at pleasure, are
but the privileges of a wild ass. It is a pity that any of the
children of men should covet such a liberty, or value themselves on
it. It is better to labour and be good for something than ramble
and be good for nothing. But if, among men, Providence sets some at
liberty and suffers them to live at ease, while others are doomed
to servitude, we must not marvel at the matter: it is so among the
brute-creatures. 2. An unenclosed lodging (<scripRef id="Job.xl-p5.2" osisRef="Bible:Job.39.6" parsed="|Job|39|6|0|0" passage="Job 39:6"><i>v.</i> 6</scripRef>): <i>Whose house I have made the
wilderness,</i> where he has room enough to traverse his ways, and
snuff up the wind at his pleasure, as the wild ass is said to do
(<scripRef id="Job.xl-p5.3" osisRef="Bible:Jer.2.24" parsed="|Jer|2|24|0|0" passage="Jer 2:24">Jer. ii. 24</scripRef>), as if he had
to live upon the air, for it is <i>the barren land</i> that is
<i>his dwelling.</i> Observe, The tame ass, that labours, and is
serviceable to man, has his master's crib to go to both for shelter
and food, and lives in a fruitful land: but the wild ass, that will
have his liberty, must have it in a barren land. He that will not
labour, let him not eat. He that will shall eat the labour of his
hands, and have also to give to him that needs. Jacob, the
shepherd, has good red pottage to spare, when Esau, a sportsman, is
ready to perish for hunger. A further description of the liberty
and livelihood of the wild ass we have, <scripRef id="Job.xl-p5.4" osisRef="Bible:Job.39.7-Job.39.8" parsed="|Job|39|7|39|8" passage="Job 39:7,8"><i>v.</i> 7, 8</scripRef>. (1.) He has no owner, nor
will he be in subjection: <i>He scorns the multitude of the
city.</i> If they attempt to take him, and in order to that
surround him with a multitude, he will soon get clear of them, and
<i>the crying of the driver</i> is nothing to him. He laughs at
those that live in the tumult and bustle of cities (so bishop
Patrick), thinking himself happier in the wilderness; and opinion
is the rate of things. (2.) Having no owner, he has no feeder, nor
is any provision made for him, but he must shift for himself:
<i>The range of the mountains is his pasture,</i> and a bare
pasture it is; there he <i>searches after here and there a green
thing,</i> as he can find it and pick it up; whereas the labouring
asses have green things in plenty, without their searching for
them. From the untameableness of this and other creatures we may
infer how unfit we are to give law to Providence, who cannot give
law even to a wild ass's colt.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Job.xl-p6">III. The unicorn—<i>rhem,</i> a strong
creature (<scripRef id="Job.xl-p6.1" osisRef="Bible:Num.23.22" parsed="|Num|23|22|0|0" passage="Nu 23:22">Num. xxiii. 22</scripRef>),
a stately proud creature, <scripRef id="Job.xl-p6.2" osisRef="Bible:Ps.112.10" parsed="|Ps|112|10|0|0" passage="Ps 112:10">Ps. cxii.
10</scripRef>. He is able to serve, but not willing; and God here
challenges Job to force him to it. Job expected every thing should
be just as he would have it. "Since thou dost pretend" (says God)
"to bring every thing beneath thy sway, begin with the unicorn, and
try thy skill upon him. Now that thy oxen and asses are all gone,
try whether he will be willing to serve thee in their stead
(<scripRef id="Job.xl-p6.3" osisRef="Bible:Job.39.9" parsed="|Job|39|9|0|0" passage="Job 39:9"><i>v.</i> 9</scripRef>) and whether
he will be content with the provision thou usedst to make for them:
<i>Will he abide by thy crib?</i> No;" 1. "Thou canst not tame him,
nor <i>bind him with his band,</i> nor set him to <i>draw the
harrow,</i>" <scripRef id="Job.xl-p6.4" osisRef="Bible:Job.39.10" parsed="|Job|39|10|0|0" passage="Job 39:10"><i>v.</i> 10</scripRef>.
There are creatures that are willing to serve man, that seem to
take a pleasure in serving him, and to have a love for their
masters; but there are such as will never be brought to serve him,
which is the effect of sin. Man has revolted from his subjection to
his Maker, and is therefore justly punished with the revolt of the
inferior creatures from their subjection to him; and yet, as an
instance of God's good-will to man, there are some that are still
serviceable to him. Though the wild bull (which some think is meant
here by the unicorn) will not serve him, nor submit to his hand in
the furrows, yet there are tame bullocks that will, and other
animals that are not <i>feræ naturæ—of a wild nature,</i> in whom
man may have a property, for whom he provides, and to whose service
he is entitled. <i>Lord, what is man, that thou art thus mindful of
him?</i> 2. "Thou darest not trust him; though <i>his strength is
great,</i> yet thou wilt not <i>leave thy labour to him,</i> as
thou dost with thy asses or oxen, which a little child may lead or
drive, leaving to them all the pains. Thou wilt never depend upon
the wild bull, as likely to come to thy harvest-work, much less to
go through it, to <i>bring home thy seed and gather it into thy
barn,</i>" <scripRef id="Job.xl-p6.5" osisRef="Bible:Job.39.11-Job.39.12" parsed="|Job|39|11|39|12" passage="Job 39:11,12"><i>v.</i> 11,
12</scripRef>. And, because he will not serve about the corn, he is
not so well fed as the tame ox, whose mouth was not to be muzzled
in treading out the corn; but <i>therefore</i> he will not draw the
plough, because he that made him never designed him for it. A
disposition to labour is as much the gift of God as an ability for
it; and it is a great mercy if, where God gives strength for
service, he gives a heart; it is what we should pray for, and
reason ourselves into, which the brutes cannot do; for, as among
beasts, so among men, those may justly be reckoned wild and
abandoned to the deserts who have no mind either to take pains or
to do good.</p>
</div><scripCom id="Job.xl-p6.6" osisRef="Bible:Job.39.13-Job.39.18" parsed="|Job|39|13|39|18" passage="Job 39:13-18" type="Commentary"/><div class="Commentary" id="Bible:Job.39.13-Job.39.18">
<h4 id="Job.xl-p6.7">Description of the Peacock and
Ostrich. (<span class="smallcaps" id="Job.xl-p6.8">b. c.</span> 1520.)</h4>
<p class="passage" id="Job.xl-p7">13 <i>Gavest thou</i> the goodly wings unto the
peacocks? or wings and feathers unto the ostrich?   14 Which
leaveth her eggs in the earth, and warmeth them in dust,   15
And forgetteth that the foot may crush them, or that the wild beast
may break them.   16 She is hardened against her young ones,
as though <i>they were</i> not hers: her labour is in vain without
fear;   17 Because God hath deprived her of wisdom, neither
hath he imparted to her understanding.   18 What time she
lifteth up herself on high, she scorneth the horse and his
rider.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Job.xl-p8">The ostrich is a wonderful animal, a very
large bird, but it never flies. Some have called it <i>a winged
camel.</i> God here gives an account of it, and observes,</p>
<p class="indent" id="Job.xl-p9">I. Something that it has in common with the
peacock, that is, beautiful feathers <scripRef id="Job.xl-p9.1" osisRef="Bible:Job.39.13" parsed="|Job|39|13|0|0" passage="Job 39:13">(<i>v.</i> 13</scripRef>): <i>Gavest thou proud wings
unto the peacocks?</i> so some read it. Fine feathers make proud
birds. The peacock is an emblem of pride; when he struts, and shows
his fine feathers, Solomon in all his glory is not arrayed like
him. The ostrich too has goodly feathers, and yet is a foolish
bird; for wisdom does not always go along with beauty and gaiety.
Other birds do not envy the peacock or the ostrich their gaudy
colours, nor complain for want of them; why then should we repine
if we see others wear better clothes than we can afford to wear?
God gives his gifts variously, and those gifts are not always the
most valuable that make the finest show. Who would not rather have
the voice of the nightingale than the tail of the peacock, the eye
of the eagle and her soaring wing, and the natural affection of the
stork, than the beautiful wings and feathers of the ostrich, which
can never rise above the earth, and is without natural
affection?</p>
<p class="indent" id="Job.xl-p10">II. Something that is peculiar to
itself,</p>
<p class="indent" id="Job.xl-p11">1. Carelessness of her young. It is well
that this is peculiar to herself, for it is a very bad character.
Observe, (1.) How she exposes her eggs; she does not retire to some
private place, and make a nest there, as the sparrows and swallows
do (<scripRef id="Job.xl-p11.1" osisRef="Bible:Ps.84.3" parsed="|Ps|84|3|0|0" passage="Ps 84:3">Ps. lxxxiv. 3</scripRef>), and
there lay eggs and hatch her young. Most birds, as well as other
animals, are strangely guided by natural instinct in providing for
the preservation of their young. But the ostrich is a monster in
nature, for she drops her eggs any where upon the ground and takes
no care to hatch them. If the sand and the sun will hatch them,
well and good; they may for her, for she will not warm them,
<scripRef id="Job.xl-p11.2" osisRef="Bible:Job.39.14" parsed="|Job|39|14|0|0" passage="Job 39:14"><i>v.</i> 14</scripRef>. Nay, she
takes no care to preserve them: <i>The foot</i> of the traveller
<i>may crush them,</i> and <i>the wild beast break them,</i>
<scripRef id="Job.xl-p11.3" osisRef="Bible:Job.39.15" parsed="|Job|39|15|0|0" passage="Job 39:15"><i>v.</i> 15</scripRef>. But how then
are any young ones brought forth, and whence is it that the species
has not perished? We must suppose either that God, by a special
providence, with the heat of the sun and the sand (so some think),
hatches the neglected eggs of the ostrich, as he feeds the
neglected young ones of the raven, or that, though the ostrich
<i>often</i> leaves her eggs thus, yet not <i>always.</i> (2.) The
reason why she does thus expose her eggs. It is, [1.] For want of
natural affection (<scripRef id="Job.xl-p11.4" osisRef="Bible:Job.39.16" parsed="|Job|39|16|0|0" passage="Job 39:16"><i>v.</i>
16</scripRef>): <i>She is hardened against her young ones.</i> To
be hardened against any is unamiable, even in a brute-creature,
much more in a rational creature that boasts of humanity,
especially to be hardened against young ones, that cannot help
themselves and therefore merit compassion, that give no provocation
and therefore merit no hard usage: but it is worst of all for her
to be hardened against her own young ones, as though they were not
hers, whereas really they are parts of herself. Her labour in
laying her eggs is in vain and all lost, because she has not that
fear and tender concern for them that she should have. Those are
most likely to lose their labour that are least in fear of losing
it. [2.] For want of wisdom (<scripRef id="Job.xl-p11.5" osisRef="Bible:Job.39.17" parsed="|Job|39|17|0|0" passage="Job 39:17"><i>v.</i> 17</scripRef>): <i>God has deprived her of
wisdom.</i> This intimates that the art which other animals have to
nourish and preserve their young is God's gift, and that, where it
exists not, God denies it, that by the folly of the ostrich, as
well as by the wisdom of the ant, we may learn to be wise; for,
<i>First,</i> As careless as the ostrich is of her eggs so careless
many people are of their own souls; they make no provision for
them, no proper nest in which they may be safe, leave them exposed
to Satan and his temptations, which is a certain evidence that they
are deprived of wisdom. <i>Secondly,</i> So careless are many
parents of their children; some of their bodies, not providing for
their own house, their own bowels, and therefore worse than
infidels, and as bad as the ostrich; but many more are thus
careless of their children's souls, take no care of their
education, send them abroad into the world untaught, unarmed,
forgetting what corruption there is in the world through lust,
which will certainly crush them. Thus their labour in rearing them
comes to be in vain; it were better for their country that they had
never been born. <i>Thirdly,</i> So careless are too many ministers
of their people, with whom they should reside; but they leave them
in the earth, and forget how busy Satan is to sow tares while men
sleep. They overlook those whom they should oversee, and are really
hardened against them.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Job.xl-p12">2. Care of herself. She leaves her eggs in
danger, but, if she herself be in danger, no creature shall strive
more to get out of the way of it than the ostrich, <scripRef id="Job.xl-p12.1" osisRef="Bible:Job.39.18" parsed="|Job|39|18|0|0" passage="Job 39:18"><i>v.</i> 18</scripRef>. Then she lifts up her
wings on high (the strength of which then stands her in better
stead than their beauty), and, with the help of them, runs so fast
that a horseman at full speed cannot overtake her: <i>She scorneth
the horse and his rider.</i> Those that are least under the law of
natural affection often contend most for the law of
self-preservation. Let not the rider be proud of the swiftness of
his horse when such an animal as the ostrich shall out-run him.</p>
</div><scripCom id="Job.xl-p12.2" osisRef="Bible:Job.39.19-Job.39.25" parsed="|Job|39|19|39|25" passage="Job 39:19-25" type="Commentary"/><div class="Commentary" id="Bible:Job.39.19-Job.39.25">
<h4 id="Job.xl-p12.3">Description of the
War-Horse. (<span class="smallcaps" id="Job.xl-p12.4">b. c.</span> 1520.)</h4>
<p class="passage" id="Job.xl-p13">19 Hast thou given the horse strength? hast thou
clothed his neck with thunder?   20 Canst thou make him afraid
as a grasshopper? the glory of his nostrils <i>is</i> terrible.
  21 He paweth in the valley, and rejoiceth in <i>his</i>
strength: he goeth on to meet the armed men.   22 He mocketh
at fear, and is not affrighted; neither turneth he back from the
sword.   23 The quiver rattleth against him, the glittering
spear and the shield.   24 He swalloweth the ground with
fierceness and rage: neither believeth he that <i>it is</i> the
sound of the trumpet.   25 He saith among the trumpets, Ha,
ha; and he smelleth the battle afar off, the thunder of the
captains, and the shouting.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Job.xl-p14">God, having displayed his own power in
those creatures that are strong and despise man, here shows it in
one scarcely inferior to any of them in strength, and yet very tame
and serviceable to man, and that is the horse, especially <i>the
horse that is prepared against the day of battle</i> and is
serviceable to man at a time when he has more than ordinary
occasion for his service. It seems, there was, in Job's country, a
noble generous breed of horses. Job, it is probable, kept many,
though they are not mentioned among his possessions, cattle for use
in husbandry being there valued more than those for state and war,
which alone horses were then reserved for, and they were not then
put to such mean services as with us they are commonly put to.
Concerning the great horse, that stately beast, it is here
observed, 1. That he has a great deal of strength and spirit
(<scripRef id="Job.xl-p14.1" osisRef="Bible:Job.39.19" parsed="|Job|39|19|0|0" passage="Job 39:19"><i>v.</i> 19</scripRef>): <i>Hast
thou given the horse strength?</i> He uses his strength for man,
but has it not from him: God gave it to him, who is the fountain of
all the powers of nature, and yet he himself <i>delights not in the
strength of the horse</i> (<scripRef id="Job.xl-p14.2" osisRef="Bible:Ps.147.10" parsed="|Ps|147|10|0|0" passage="Ps 147:10">Ps.
cxlvii. 10</scripRef>), but has told us that <i>a horse is a vain
thing for safety,</i> <scripRef id="Job.xl-p14.3" osisRef="Bible:Ps.33.17" parsed="|Ps|33|17|0|0" passage="Ps 33:17">Ps. xxxiii.
17</scripRef>. For running, drawing, and carrying, no creature that
is ordinarily in the service of man has so much strength as the
horse has, nor is of so stout and bold a spirit, not to be made
afraid as a grasshopper, but daring and forward to face danger. It
is a mercy to man to have such a servant, which, though very
strong, submits to the management of a child, and rebels not
against his owner. But let not the strength of a horse be trusted
to, <scripRef id="Job.xl-p14.4" osisRef="Bible:Hos.14.3 Bible:Ps.20.7 Bible:Isa.31.1 Bible:Isa.31.3" parsed="|Hos|14|3|0|0;|Ps|20|7|0|0;|Isa|31|1|0|0;|Isa|31|3|0|0" passage="Ho 14:3,Ps 20:7,Isa 31:1,3">Hos. xiv. 3; Ps.
xx. 7; Isa. xxxi. 1, 3</scripRef>. 2. That his neck and nostrils
look great. His neck is <i>clothed with thunder,</i> with a large
and flowing mane, which makes him formidable and is an ornament to
him. <i>The glory of his nostrils,</i> when he snorts, flings up
his head, and throws foam about, <i>is terrible,</i> <scripRef id="Job.xl-p14.5" osisRef="Bible:Job.39.20" parsed="|Job|39|20|0|0" passage="Job 39:20"><i>v.</i> 20</scripRef>. Perhaps there might be
at that time, and in that country, a more stately breed of horses
than any we have now. 3. That he is very fierce and furious in
battle, and charges with an undaunted courage, though he pushes on
in imminent danger of his life. (1.) See how frolicsome he is
(<scripRef id="Job.xl-p14.6" osisRef="Bible:Job.39.21" parsed="|Job|39|21|0|0" passage="Job 39:21"><i>v.</i> 21</scripRef>): <i>He paws
in the valley,</i> scarcely knowing what ground he stands upon. He
is proud of his strength, and he has much more reason to be so as
using his strength in the service of man, and under his direction,
than the wild ass that uses it in contempt of man, and in a revolt
from him <scripRef id="Job.xl-p14.7" osisRef="Bible:Job.39.8" parsed="|Job|39|8|0|0" passage="Job 39:8"><i>v.</i> 8</scripRef>. (2.)
See how forward he is to engage: <i>He goes on to meet the armed
men,</i> animated, not by the goodness of the cause, or the
prospect of honour, but only by <i>the sound of the trumpet, the
thunder of the captains, and the shouting</i> of the soldiers,
which are as bellows to the fire of his innate courage, and make
him spring forward with the utmost eagerness, as if he cried,
<i>Ha! ha!</i> <scripRef id="Job.xl-p14.8" osisRef="Bible:Job.39.25" parsed="|Job|39|25|0|0" passage="Job 39:25"><i>v.</i>
25</scripRef>. How wonderfully are the brute-creatures fitted for
and inclined to the services for which they were designed. (3.) See
how fearless he is, how he despises death and the most threatening
dangers, (<scripRef id="Job.xl-p14.9" osisRef="Bible:Job.39.22" parsed="|Job|39|22|0|0" passage="Job 39:22"><i>v.</i> 22</scripRef>):
<i>He mocks at fear,</i> and makes a jest of it; slash at him with
a sword, rattle the quiver, brandish the spear, to drive him back,
he will not retreat, but press forward, and even inspires courage
into his rider. (4.) See how furious he is. He curvets and prances,
and runs on with so much violence and heat against the enemy that
one would think he even <i>swallowed the ground with fierceness and
rage,</i> <scripRef id="Job.xl-p14.10" osisRef="Bible:Job.39.24" parsed="|Job|39|24|0|0" passage="Job 39:24"><i>v.</i> 24</scripRef>.
High mettle is the praise of a horse rather than of a man, whom
fierceness and rage ill become. This description of the war-horse
will help to explain that character which is given of presumptuous
sinners, <scripRef id="Job.xl-p14.11" osisRef="Bible:Jer.8.6" parsed="|Jer|8|6|0|0" passage="Jer 8:6">Jer. viii. 6</scripRef>.
<i>Every one turneth to his course, as the horse rusheth into the
battle.</i> When a man's heart is fully set in him to do evil, and
he is carried on in a wicked way by the violence of inordinate
appetites and passions, there is no making him afraid of the wrath
of God and the fatal consequences of sin. Let his own conscience
set before him the curse of the law, the death that is the wages of
sin, and all the terrors of the Almighty in battle-array; he mocks
at this fear, and is not affrighted, neither turns he back from the
flaming sword of the cherubim. Let ministers lift up their voice
like a trumpet, to proclaim the wrath of God against him, <i>he
believes not that it is the sound of the trumpet,</i> nor that God
and his heralds are in earnest with him; but what will be in the
end hereof it is easy to foresee.</p>
</div><scripCom id="Job.xl-p14.12" osisRef="Bible:Job.39.26-Job.39.30" parsed="|Job|39|26|39|30" passage="Job 39:26-30" type="Commentary"/><div class="Commentary" id="Bible:Job.39.26-Job.39.30">
<h4 id="Job.xl-p14.13">Description of the Hawk and
Eagle. (<span class="smallcaps" id="Job.xl-p14.14">b. c.</span> 1520.)</h4>
<p class="passage" id="Job.xl-p15">26 Doth the hawk fly by thy wisdom, <i>and</i>
stretch her wings toward the south?   27 Doth the eagle mount
up at thy command, and make her nest on high?   28 She
dwelleth and abideth on the rock, upon the crag of the rock, and
the strong place.   29 From thence she seeketh the prey,
<i>and</i> her eyes behold afar off.   30 Her young ones also
suck up blood: and where the slain <i>are,</i> there <i>is</i>
she.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Job.xl-p16">The birds of the air are proofs of the
wonderful power and providences of God, as well as the beasts of
the earth; God here refers particularly to two stately ones:—1.
The <i>hawk,</i> a noble bird of great strength and sagacity, and
yet a bird of prey, <scripRef id="Job.xl-p16.1" osisRef="Bible:Job.39.26" parsed="|Job|39|26|0|0" passage="Job 39:26"><i>v.</i>
26</scripRef>. This bird is here taken notice of for her flight,
which is swift and strong, and especially for the course she steers
<i>towards the south,</i> whither she follows the sun in winter,
out of the colder countries in the north, especially when she is to
cast her plumes and renew them. This is her wisdom, and it was God
that gave her this wisdom, not man. Perhaps the extraordinary
wisdom of the hawk's flight after her prey was not used then for
men's diversion and recreation, as it has been since. It is a pity
that the reclaimed hawk, which is taught to fly at man's command
and to make him sport, should at any time be abused to the
dishonour of God, since it is from God that she receives that
wisdom which makes her flight entertaining and serviceable. 2. The
<i>eagle,</i> a royal bird, and yet a bird of prey too, the
permission of which, nay, the giving of power to which, may help to
reconcile us to the prosperity of oppressors among men. The eagle
is here taken notice of, (1.) For the height of her flight. No bird
soars so high, has so strong a wind, nor can so well bear the light
of the sun. Now, "<i>Doth she mount at thy command?</i> <scripRef id="Job.xl-p16.2" osisRef="Bible:Job.39.27" parsed="|Job|39|27|0|0" passage="Job 39:27"><i>v.</i> 27</scripRef>. Is it by any strength
she has from thee? or dost thou direct her flight? No; it is by the
natural power and instinct God has given her that she will soar out
of thy sight, much more out of thy call." (2.) For the strength of
her nest. Her house is her castle and strong-hold; she makes it
<i>on high</i> and <i>on the rock, the crag of the rock</i>
(<scripRef id="Job.xl-p16.3" osisRef="Bible:Job.39.28" parsed="|Job|39|28|0|0" passage="Job 39:28"><i>v.</i> 28</scripRef>), which sets
her and her young out of the reach of danger. Secure sinners think
themselves as safe in their sins as the eagle in her nest on high,
in the <i>clefts of the rock; but I will bring thee down thence,
saith the Lord,</i> <scripRef id="Job.xl-p16.4" osisRef="Bible:Jer.49.16" parsed="|Jer|49|16|0|0" passage="Jer 49:16">Jer. xlix.
16</scripRef>. The higher bad men sit above the resentments of the
earth the nearer they ought to think themselves to the vengeance of
Heaven. (3.) For her quicksightedness (<scripRef id="Job.xl-p16.5" osisRef="Bible:Job.39.29" parsed="|Job|39|29|0|0" passage="Job 39:29"><i>v.</i> 29</scripRef>): <i>Her eyes behold afar
off,</i> not upwards, but downwards, in quest of her prey. In this
she is an emblem of a hypocrite, who, while, in the profession of
religion, he seems to rise towards heaven, keeps his eye and heart
upon the prey on earth, some temporal advantage, some widow's house
or other that he hopes to devour, under pretence of devotion. (4.)
For the way she has of maintaining herself and her young. She preys
upon living animals, which she seizes and tears to pieces, and
thence carries to her young ones, which are taught to <i>suck up
blood;</i> they do it by instinct, and know no better; but for men
that have reason and conscience to thirst after blood is what could
scarcely be believed if there had not been in every age wretched
instances of it. She also preys upon the dead bodies of men:
<i>Where the slain are, there is she,</i> These birds of prey (in
another sense than the horse, <scripRef id="Job.xl-p16.6" osisRef="Bible:Job.39.25" parsed="|Job|39|25|0|0" passage="Job 39:25"><i>v.</i> 25</scripRef>) <i>smell the battle afar
off.</i> Therefore, when a great slaughter is to be made among the
enemies of the church, the fowls are invited to <i>the supper of
the great God, to eat the flesh of kings and captains,</i>
<scripRef id="Job.xl-p16.7" osisRef="Bible:Rev.19.17-Rev.19.18" parsed="|Rev|19|17|19|18" passage="Re 19:17,18">Rev. xix. 17, 18</scripRef>. Our
Saviour refers to this instinct of the eagle, <scripRef id="Job.xl-p16.8" osisRef="Bible:Matt.24.28" parsed="|Matt|24|28|0|0" passage="Mt 24:28">Matt. xxiv. 28</scripRef>. <i>Wheresoever the carcase
is, there will the eagles be gathered together.</i> Every creature
will make towards that which is its proper food; for he that
provides the creatures their food has implanted in them that
inclination. These and many such instances of natural power and
sagacity in the inferior creatures, which we cannot account for,
oblige us to confess our own weakness and ignorance and to give
glory to God as the fountain of all being, power, wisdom, and
perfection.</p>
</div></div2>